Perfume Genius @ Mississippi Studios (21+)

Perfume Genius’s new album Too Bright is one of the best albums of 2014. There’s simply no ignoring the power and emotion that Mike Hadreas brings in each of his recordings, and with Too Bright, he opens up the project to new, challenging dimensions. Musically, the sound veers psychotically, from the peaceful piano compositions he is known for to sonic freakouts that bring to mind latter-day Scott Walker. And thematically, it only gets more intense: one of the frequent concepts of Too Bright is that of ‘gay panic’, Hadreas playing with the idea that he can use his queerness as a tool, a weapon of intimidation. This is an Important™ album, and this will be a mind blowing show.